Shaar Shalom Synagogue Schedule of High Holiday Services 5770 - 2009
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Shaar Shalom Synagogue Schedule of High Holiday Services 5770 - 2009 Annual Cemetery Visit Sunday, Sept. 13 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Rosh Hashanah Friday, Sept.18 6:30 p.m. Ma’ariv Saturday, Sept.19 9:00 a.m. Shacharit 10:30 a.m. Junior Congregation 6:00 p.m. Mincha Sunday, Sept. 20 9:00 a.m. Shacharit 10:30 a.m. Junior Congregation 5:00pm Tashlich @ Bishop’s Landing Yom Kippur Sunday, Sept.27 6:30 p.m. Musical Opening After music: Kol Nidre + Ma’ariv Monday, Sept. 28 9:15 a.m. Shacharit 10:30 a.m. Junior Congregation 11:15 a.m. Yizkor 5:45 p.m. Mincha 6:40 p.m. Neilah 7:45 p.m. Shofar and fast ends Sukkot Friday, Oct. 2 6:00 p.m. Ma’ariv Saturday Oct. 3 9:15 a.m. Shacharit 6:00 p.m. Ma’ariv Sunday, Oct. 4 9:15 a.m. Shacharit 1 Sh’mini Atzeret & Simchat Torah Friday, Oct. 9 6:00 p.m. Ma’ariv Saturday, Oct. 10 9:15 a.m. Shacharit 10:45 a.m. Yizkor 6:00 p.m. Ma’ariv, Dancing and Hakafot Sunday, Oct. 11 9:15 a.m. Shacharit 10:00 a.m. Dancing and Hakafot Holiday Calendar 5769 – 2009/2010 Erev Chanukah (First Candle) Dec. 11/09 Tu’ B’Shevat Jan 30/10 Purim Feb 28/10 Erev Pesach Mar. 29/10 Holocaust Remembrance Apr. 11/10 Israel Independence Apr. 20/10 Lag B’Omer May 2/10 Erev Shavuot May 18/10 Tisha B’Av July 20/10 Participate in Shaar Services ~ Want to chant a Haftorah or deliver a d'var Torah (sermon)? It's easy! Contact the head of our Ritual Committee, Donna Assh or Greg Hirsch. ~ If you would like to lead Early Shabbat Prayers on any Friday evening while the Cantor is away, would you please contact Howard Heyman at 4232543 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Howard has a CD of the service and would lend it to anyone interested in leading services. 2 President’s Message We have almost completed a year of our experimental new governance structure. Phil Belitsky and I have had the pleasure of serving you in the capacity of co-presidents. There is no vice president and the organizational structure we are currently using was set up to handle the directions put forward in our strategic plan. I believe this has worked well and it is due, in large part, to the efforts of many dedicated individuals on our board and chairs of key committees and their committee members. These people have shouldered various responsibilities and this has resulted in our ship of state running smoothly. However, at this point we still have the serious problem as Phil Belitsky clearly articulated in his presidential letter in the last Newsletter. No one has indicated any willingness to assume the role of leadership for our congregation for this coming year. Phil and I agreed to serve as co- presidents to avert a similar crisis last year. It is unfair and unrealistic to expect us to do this again. We will continue to serve on the Board, and assist, any new leadership candidate to the best of our ability. Please give serious thought to serving a leadership role. Certainly you can call Phil or me for suggestions, advice, or to see what is involved. This year Halifax has hosted the arrival of more than 20 Israeli families, who hope to make their homes here. A similar number of families are expected in the near future, and with some effort hopefully that number can climb to an even greater number. Shaar Shalom and the Jewish community in general should do everything we can to assist our new arrivals to make their choice a happy and successful one. Towards this end we have invited all the new families to be our guests at our high holiday services. Please be your usual friendly selves and welcome our new neighbours. 3 On behalf of the Board, I am very pleased to announce that we have completed contract negotiations with our Cantor and spiritual leader, Ari Isenberg. He has agreed to continue to serve in that capacity for the next two years. We are very happy that the number of times he will be in Halifax this year will increase from 13 to 20 or more, thereby enabling him to provide direct service to our congregation and more frequently. We look forward to his increased presence as we miss him when he is away. Our synagogue has been beautified by the addition of a new tree of life. Thanks are due to the Argand and Spatz families who donated this lovely art piece in Memory and in Honour of their parents. Thanks are also due to the efforts of Lysa April and her Shaar Art Committee, and to Molly Rechnitzer who assisted with the development of this lovely and needed addition. Although the donor wishes to remain anonymous, the Shaar Shalom Congregation would like to gratefully acknowledge the receipt of a substantial bequest on behalf of a person from the Yarmouth community. I am very pleased that the Simon L. Gaum Bereavement Centre and the Tikkun Olam committees are up and running. These committees are examples that demonstrate that our congregants are willing to think of others in times of distress and reach out and offer assistance. That is part of being Jewish and of how a family is supposed to act. I am proud to be part of that family. Kol Ha Kavod. On behalf of Phil and Roz Belitsky and Rona and myself, I would like to extend our very best wishes for peace, health and happiness to all members of our congregation for the coming year. Shalom, Murray Schwartz, Co-president. 4 From The Cantor’s Study To My Shaar Shalom Community, Halifax is not known to have such extreme humidity. Today my apartment was unbearably hot, making it uncomfortable to sit in. Consequently, I retreated to the breezy Halifax waterfront for some relief. With a bottle of water and my laptop in tow, I found an ideal shady area to relax in, near Bishop’s Landing. There I was, on a summer day, in beautiful Halifax - a city that I, in unsuspecting fashion, fell in love with and quickly began to regard as my home. On this particular day, I found myself in a pensive state. It was in 2001 that I made my first High Holiday appearance on the bimah of Shaar Shalom Congregation. I was 19 years old and I still had a full head of hair (take comfort in knowing that you were not the cause of my hair loss; I have genetics to thank for that). I am now a 28-year old man entering my second year of intense study in my pursuit of rabbinic ordination and a Master’s degree in sacred music. As I reflect, I consider how nurturing these years have been for my own development. This High Holiday season will mark my fifth consecutive year as your spiritual leader and my ninth High Holiday season as your cantor. I can hardly recall what life was like pre-Halifax! Suddenly, a gust of wind blew the knitted kippah I was wearing right off my head. A bystander caught it and returned it to me. For one reason or another, the force of the wind made me contemplate the constant renewal of the seasons, and I realized that today is Friday, July 31st. In exactly seven weeks, to the day, we will gather for Rosh Hashanah services. 5 Time seems to fly faster than the wind! Yesterday was Tisha b’Av – the 9th day in the month of Av. Most consider it to be the saddest day in the Jewish calendar year. Why? For it was on the 9th of Av, so often throughout history, that our nation – the Jewish People – was persecuted, tormented, and torn from its home. Most notably, both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on Tisha b’Av and our ancestors were subsequently sent into exile. Born out of that tragedy was a need to reinvent our national identity, restructure our worship patterns, and reassess our strengths, goals, and purpose. In modern times, our Jewish calendar is structured in such a way that there are exactly seven weeks between Tisha b’Av – the saddest day in our year – and Rosh Hashanah, the opportunity for renewal. The Haftarot chanted on each of these seven Shabbatot are labelled “the seven Haftarot of consolation and comfort”. After destruction and duress, we, the Jewish people, are commanded to spend seven weeks reflecting, re-creating, and rebuilding, so as to be ready for our new year, our new opportunity for development. Why seven weeks? Perhaps this is symbolic of a shiva. After all, when mourning the loss of an individual, the mourner emerges from sitting shiva faced with a new reality. The shiva itself, seven days, could be seen as a time for reflection and re-creation – an opportunity for development and to identify new-found roles and responsibilities. Perhaps it is because of days like today, days so hot that all one wants to do is remain stagnant, that the Jewish calendar established a set time for communal evaluation. My hope is that we take these seven weeks, this shiva period, and foster opportunities for reflection, reassessment, and re-creation, forging a stronger sense of who we are as a community and what actions are required for our continued development.